Even at very low speed, revering your car into the corner of a shipping container is going to result in Peugeot 0: Steel box 1. That, and a lot of swearing.
A scuffed bumper aside, the main damage was to the rear tail light, which needed replacement. A look on eBay brought up a second hand unit for 70 quid (new ones appear to be £120), so it was time to get the spanners out and hide my shame!
Handy hint: If you aren't sure exactly which model your car is, look up the registration online. Mine is the 308 Allure Sw S/S registered in 2018. No, I didn't know this. I mean there is a badge on the back, so I know some of it, but the bewildering model nomenclature - we didn't have this problem with VW Beetles!
To make sure I ordered the correct part, I removed the light unit to see the sticker on the bottom which has the exact part number. Searching on this took me to the right component and ensured I was confident I had the bit I wanted.
The light unit is held in place with a pair of bolts. Initially I'd expected more, but then realised that changing a bulb requires the removal of the light unit, so the job needs to be reasonably easy.
Access is through a removable panel in the side of the luggage area. You can see the right hand bolt in the photo.
The left hand bolt is harder to get a look at but it's getatable through the hatch. Proximity to the cable makes working by touch trickier, but not too bad.
The only tool needed for the job is a 10mm spanner. I used a deep socket, the normal version isn't quite deep enough. Put a cloth under the nut to avoid it dropping out of reach. I lost two sockets on this job in the depths of the car...
The nuts are an interesting, and new to me, combined nut and washer unit. The washer turns, but comes off with the nut - weird when you are working by touch and haven't seen them before.
With both nuts removed, wiggling the plastic unit will free it from the car. I didn't need to force it, just persistent waggling it around and eventually it came away.
The wiring connection is removed by pushing the tab on the side of the plug.
Reassembly is the reverse of the above - and that's it. The job took around 20 minutes because I wasn't rushing things. Putting new bulbs in would require pretty much the same work, hence the access hatch I suppose.
The paint damage buffed out with some T-Cut and bit of elbow grease. Next time I go around to my storage unit, I'll be extra careful!
Legal note: This is an accurate description of what I did. I am not a
professional mechanic and these notes are offered for entertainment
only. If you chose to follow them and things don't work, it's not my
fault. Sorry. If you are at all unsure then get a professional to do the
job. The car used was a 2018 UK spec 308, other models may be
different.
Issy has just kept her 100% record for damaging our new cars within six weeks of buying them. This time she backed the Kuga, equipped with every imaginable parking aid,into the skip that has been sitting on our drive for two weeks. "It is OK, I've only broken the glass over the stoplight"
ReplyDeleteFive hundred pounds later it has a new rear light cluster
Ouch!
ReplyDeletePhil, I said something like that
ReplyDeleteAre you not disturbed to find that, underneath your shiny metallic gunmetal body, that Peugeot had sprayed your car Longbridge nappy brown first?
ReplyDeleteMake/model denominations are indeed getting crazy, I own a 2015 MG6 GT DTI-Tech TSE. Talk about a mouthful, in a way it's a good thing there were less than 3000 sold throughout the whole of Europe before it was discontinued.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I took our car to the dealer to replace a front headlight? sidelight? bulb.
ReplyDeleteThe service agent asked if I had cruise control. (I didn't) He said that the bulb changed very easily from the back except that the cruise control module was mounted right behind the lights. He owned the same model but with cruise control.
HI Phil,I last commented about your tugboat. I went rowing about 3 weeks ago and taking the boat back to the car tired and not paying attention, smashed a hole in the taillight with an oarlock. Picked up all the pieces. even the tiniest fragments. A week later,unbolted the taillight,used a dremel cutting disc to remove the red and clear lens as it was glued to the body, and puzzled the pieces back together with liquid solvent. Was left with three little gaps which filled with tube plastic cement and the tiny fragments. Does not look too bad. When i next get a roundtuit i will polish and future it a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing to make things easier nexrt time round is to use wing nuts. This way it easier access especially if you are on the road and have no tools
ReplyDelete